Patrice Miles

Author Archive

Egbe Kids

Posted: May 24, 2014 by Patrice Miles in Egbe, Egbe Nigeria, People of Egbe

“Egbe Kids, My name is Ava. I live in Washington. My favorite sport to do is gymnastics. I just turned 10 my birthday is April 30th. I love doing math. We can email eachother. These stuffed animals are very special to me so take good care of them.”

This sweet note and a box of Ava’s favorite stuffed animals came on the last container to Egbe. She had asked that the Egbe Kids be given these stuffed animals that were her favorite. Cason and Jolie had a blast handing these gifts to kids at the hospital, kids in the town, their friends and kids of workers we knew. The smiles on the children’s faces was precious, and the joy these animals brought was felt.

It warms my heart to know that a little girl all the way in Washington was willing to give up so much for children she knows have so little. How can we all be like Ava and give up just a few of our favorite things to help people who have so little? I cannot imagine if every person that is reading this blog gave up one if their favorite things this week and gave that item, or money that would have been spent on it, away to someone less fortunate. What Joy that would bring to so many.

Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

As you drink your Starbucks this week, dine at your favorite restaurant, turn on the light switch, take a warm shower, get your nails done, have your hair done, wash your car, eat a Krispie Kreme doughnut (my own affliction:), think of your one favorite thing and give it to someone else. If you are considering giving money away in place of your favorite item….here are a a few options to click on of people I know personally that you could bring Joy to this week.

Give A Goat Foundation

Send the Riddles to Nigeria

Louisville Refugee Kids Kentucky Kingdom Passes (email Jennifer Emerson at refugeforrefugee.muhoza@gmail.com)

Egbe Hospital Project

Miles In Missions

“We are coming!”

Posted: May 19, 2014 by Patrice Miles in Egbe, Miles In Missions, Mission Trips, Volunteers

“We are coming!” This was the email I received over 3 month ago from our friends and Miles in Missions supporters, Stephen and Diana Beville. I thought after I gave them the costs and details of the journey they would say that they were mistaken and couldn’t come. $3,000 in plane tickets, $850 for accommodations and transportation to Egbe, VISA’s, shots, 16 hours in plane travel, 8 hours in vehicle travel and you have to stay for 2 weeks. Diana said,” I don’t know how we will come up with the money, get time off from work and I am so nervous I am shaking but we are saying, Yes! We feel God is calling us to come and serve in Egbe.” I screamed to Lenny the news and then cried as I had always thought no one would ever come and visit us in the bush.

When the Beville’s said YES we all had no clue what God had planned. We just knew he wanted them here. Weeks before their arrival he started to give us little glimpses of what he wanted them here for. First it was clear that I needed some Louisville lovins. Since Abby’s departure at the end of March I have been very lonely. I knew God knew I needed a woman from Louisville to lift my Spirits and help me push forward until more female missionaries arrive.

God’s plan continued to unfold one week before the Beville’s arrival. Our medical director asked if the Beville’s could help move the pharmacy to its new location. I of course said yes. We could easily install shelving, clean the new location and move all the drugs. He then asked if Stephen would be comfortable with viewing the pharmacy policy and procedures and seeing what changes needed to be made to make it more efficient. I told the MD that Stephen had never worked in a pharmacy before so I didn’t know if he would be comfortable with that, but I would ask. When Stephen arrived I shared the MD’s desires with him and he said, “Oh that’s no problem. I used to work in a pharmacy and my Dad is a pharmacist.” I couldn’t do anything but laugh as God has such a sense of humor.

Overall, their time here has ministered to our family, the hospital, the staff and the community. Our family needed to hear some of that familiar Louisville swang. The hospital needed help with the pharmacy move, Dr’s Library Facelift, server and Internet issues. A few of the staff and their grandchildren benefited from Diana’s computer and cooking classes. The community will benefit from the changes they have helped make for years to come. Thank you to the Beville’s for saying YES! Thank you to their family that re arranged their lives to watch their children. Thank you to everyone that supported them financially and prayerfully on this journey to Egbe! Thank you to everyone that contributed to the 7 suitcase of clothes and other goodies. To view more of their pictures in Egbe click Beville.

24 Hour Water!

Posted: May 8, 2014 by Patrice Miles in Egbe Hosptial

Egbe Team,

Missionary, Lenny Miles – construction foreman, has announced another HUGE MILESTONE at Egbe, Nigeria. I thought I would put a little pictorial together to remind all of us of this…. more than 1 year project headed by Engineer Will King which bring us to the point where we now have 24 hour water to the compound.

The reservoir which was built 50 years ago and was about ready to fall over and was leaking like a sieve … the hospital and compound has been operating from 3 water bore holes on the compound that would start to go dry in February and March which is the peak of the dry season. It is tough on the missionaries and volunteers to try run a hospital with water buckets rather than running water which was the way it was!!

The steps to get to where we are today!

Drain the reservoir – rebuild the wall – back fill the wall with special clay – build new sand filter beds – install a new diesel water pump – lay 1 mile of 4 inch PVC pipe – celebrate the ability to now supply 5000 gallons a day to the entire hospital compound – (it is easy to write but a very difficult task) = another answer to prayer!

Great Job – Will, Mark, Lenny, and Team!!

Praise God.

Don Campion

People of Egbe: Ayo the Driver

Posted: April 9, 2014 by Patrice Miles in Egbe, Egbe Nigeria, People of Egbe

” Good afternoon Ma. Follow me.” Ayo directed. These were the first words I heard when exiting the airport on August 16th, 2013. Ayo, a large Nigerian man with an amazing smile on his face was waiting for us. With all our carts of luggage and two kids we quickly followed his lead through the crowd of people and parking lot. He loaded our bags gave us instruction on what to do and how to do it. I immediately fell in love with this gentle giant. His calm spirit but in control attitude made me relax.

Once in the car we headed to the guesthouse. Ayo navigated the roads professionally giving me all the confidence in him as a driver. I never will forget giggling in the back seat at Ayo as I would hear him talking to all the passengers on the road through his closed window. He still makes me laugh when he does this.

The next morning before starting our 8 hr trek to Egbe, Ayo handed our group a paper to read aloud from the Egbe team. It basically said Ayo is in charge. Don’t do anything unless he tells you to. If you get stopped for any reason keep your mouth shut and let Ayo handle everything. It was refreshing to know that Ayo was the man, but also a little concerning of what the Egbe team was trying to hint at.

After a few hours of getting to take in all the sites and passing through several police checkpoints with no problems….we hit the nail boys. I will never forget those 10 seconds. The car stopped…Ayo launched out the door…the gentle giant turned into the giant….. gave them a piece of his mind in Yuroba or Hausa (he knows both) and then jumped back in the car and we were off. I now call him my Night in Shining Armor.

Ayo was born and raised in Egbe. He left for Ziaria, Kaduna State, 34 years ago to take a job as an airplane mechanic. After 32 years there he retired and returned to Egbe. He is now our compounds driver and mechanic. He is a man of God and has been married to his beautiful wife for 26 years. He currently has 5 children. Mubo who is 24 years old and at Ziaria University, Tobe who is 22 and waiting for admission to university, Kola who is 19, Belumi who is 15 and Bolu who is 8. His family and Egbe hospital keep him busy enough but somehow he finds time to have a Kassava farm and work on his home he has recently built.

Ayo since then has driven us so many places in Nigeria. I always feel safe with him behind the wheel. His amazing laugh bringa a smile to my face everyday he greets me. He is one of the many Angels in Egbe our family gets to experience daily. He cares for my kids and has so much patience with my family for potty breaks, throw up breaks and more. When and if you come to visit Egbe…this is the face you will see waiting for you when you arrive.

Spiritual Fruit

Posted: March 30, 2014 by Patrice Miles in Egbe, Egbe Nigeria, Miles In Missions

In the past few months we have had many people ask us about the spiritual fruit that we have seen in Egbe. Everyone that is friends with us on Facebook or reads our blog knows our works and acts….but do they really see Gods kingdom growing through our ministry?

I am excited to say that over 564 patients in the hospital excepted Christ in 2013 As well as another 349 rededicated their lives to Christ. Now you might ask, did Miles in Missions directly have anything to do with these conversions? No, none of us ever do as God is the conductor and we are simply his instruments. Our roles in Egbe are supporting roles. Lenny is Maintenance Manager for this 33 acre hospital compound. I am the Volunteer Coordinator, Housing Compound Manager and Bookkeeper for the revitalization project. Without maintenance and construction of the hospital, there wouldn’t be a hospital for patients to come and hear about Christ. Without volunteers, housing for Missionaries and Nigerian Doctors there wouldn’t be anyone to talk to patients about Christ.

We struggle with our supporting roles everyday. We would love to be on the frontline with the Doctors, nurses, and chaplains watching them minister to the patients. We would love to actually be present when that patient says “Yes, I want Jesus in my life!” We have to look at ourselves though and question our desire for that. Is our desire to be on the front lines for our own satisfaction or truly to further Gods kingdom.

God has called us to these supporting roles and we do get to see him working daily. The men Lenny works with in the workshop are predominately Christian. Just like in the US, this can mean so many things. The question is do they have a relationship with Christ? Through the men’s devotion every morning in the workshop they are able to explore this and talk about it openly. This year, in 2014, one man has accepted Christ in the workshop and in 2013, two men. Discipleship is the Spiritual Fruit that Lenny gets to be apart of. Look for BLOG coming soon on Samuel who accepted Christ this year.

The women I work with daily in the guesthouse are also Christian women. We get to explore our walk with Christ in morning devotions and together all grow closer to God. The culture here does not easily go deep or talk about emotions…not much different then some of the Bible studies I attended back home. Together with Gods help we are pouring into these Christians to help them understand his love, mercy and grace that is available to us all without having to do anything.

Egbe Hospital Food Drive

Posted: March 23, 2014 by Patrice Miles in Uncategorized

“What smells so good?” Cason asked. “Chocolate chip cookies!” I told him with a smile on my face. Cason jumped up and down and yelled” Yeah! Jolie we get to eat chocolate chip cookies tonight!” Food has always been a source of Joy for me. I smile as I cook it, eat it and serve it. In the U.S. I loved to host parties just to cook and bake for people. I also loved to use it to minister to people that are sick, need cheering up, or if I just want to show them I care for them. . Everyone says I get it from my Mimi.

My food addiction has also been a thorn in my side. I can use it to take away my loneliness, pain or sadness. God has been working with me on this for years and it is a daily battle that he walks and talks with me about. I am excited today because I think he might finally be showing me how to use it for his kingdom.

In Africa, hospitals do not feed their patients daily. It is the responsibility of the family to bring daily food and water. If the family lives too far away or they don’t have the money then the patient starves. The nurses in Egbe are amazing and do everything they can to keep this from happening. They give their own money and food to these patients. The nurses are limited to what they can do and this need for daily food and water has been on my heart since I arrived in Egbe.

A colleague of mine and I have discussed so many different ways to feed the patients. Every time we discuss it we are left with concerns of when helping hurts. We don’t want to create something that will hurt the community more than help it. If people think they can get a free meal in the hospital, why ever pay your bill and go home?

After some prayer I decided to try a few food drives just to see the costs, time and what the outcome was. We handed out Garri, ground nut and water for our first drive. We prayed over the patients after asking them if they knew who Jesus was and if they where a Christian. The smiles on the faces of these patients was amazing. They were so happy to see us, especially the children. I cannot explain the Joy we all found in serving these suffering people a simple bag of Garri. It was so rewarding and the prayer time was very encouraging.

For N5000 we fed 50 people which is about $31. Thank you to everyone that has and is supporting us. You can know that your support just helped feed 50 people in Egbe. These people may have not have gotten to eat that day if God had not stirred your heart to support Miles In Missions. Next week we will be trying it again so please pray for us. I don’t know what road God is leading us down but we are taking baby steps to find out.

If You Build it They Will Come!

Posted: March 19, 2014 by Patrice Miles in Egbe Hosptial, Egbe Nigeria, Missionaries
Tags: Egbe, Egbe Hospital, Egbe Nigeria

God’s Instrument of Healing

Posted: February 19, 2014 by Patrice Miles in Egbe Hosptial, Volunteers

“Dr. Duncan is coming, Dr. Duncan is coming!” This is all I heard a few months ago and I wondered what all the buzz was about. Her visit was so anticipated that over 130 patients had pre registered from cities as far as Abuja to see her. In a culture that values large families and the number one cause of cancer deaths in women is cervical cancer, I found out an OBGYN doctor was a big deal for Egbe. Dr Duncan is from a rural town called Yreka California. She is the only OBGYN in the area. Her husband Mike is a HVAC contractor and I must say he has missed his calling as a baker. Together they have served in Egbe for one month and will be leaving us soon.

Dr Duncan heard about the need in Egbe from a visiting Nigerian CNRA at her practice in Yreka, CA. She thought it sounded perfect because it had both medical needs that she could help with and construction needs that Mike could help with. The only problem was it wasn’t on the World Medical Missions list. She decided to check again and when she logged onto the WMM website….there was Egbe. She would later find out they had added it just the day before. This along with a few other jaw droppers, confirmed for her that God was calling them to Egbe.

In 2012 Dr Duncan was one of the first Doctors on the ground in Egbe with WMM. No one was prepared for the 100’s of patients that would show up to see her. Through the chaos Dr. Duncan touched so many barren women’s lives through prayer, medicine and surgeries. She built relationships and this community fell in love with her as much as she fell in love with them.

Dr. Duncan decided to take her only vacation time again this year in 2014 and serve the people of Egbe again. Everyone was much more prepared for the chaos this time. She sees 25-44 patients a day MWF and performs seven surgeries a day on T & Th. In addition a new resident shadows her each week and she gives two lectures to all the Doctors and residents on staff. “The best part of this is getting to pray with each patient and the fact that they expect a miracle. I am humbled by their faith and I just want God to use me as an instrument of healing.”

Dr. Duncan has numerous stories of women with blocked tubes, menopause and more that couldn’t get surgery or she felt she couldn’t help them. She prayed with them in 2012 at the clinic and in 2014 she has been amazed at how many of these women now have babies. Wow! Her stories of getting to witness miracles make me jealous. She has had a front row seat to Gods work here in Egbe. Dr Duncan says, ” The power of Gods presence is so evident in this community. When you go to church you feel the power of God in their prayers. God has led me to be here for a reason, I encourage everyone to listen to where God is leading them now.”

If you feel like God is leading you to Egbe for medical or construction we would love to have you. I cannot express enough the need this community has for people like Dr Duncan. The repercussions of what she has done in one month will be felt financially, emotionally and spiritually in this community for many years. Click WMM for more information on medical opportunities and say YES. Click SP for more information on construction opportunities and say YES.

Swept Away

Posted: February 12, 2014 by Patrice Miles in Missionaries

In November 2013 I remember an Egbe family meeting to go over possible transitioning of Samaritan Purse workers Abby and Mark Anderson to The Miles Family and William King. Abby went down her 3 page paper of what her duties were from compound manager, guesthouse manager, volunteer coordinator, EHR accountant and more. I will never forget the question being asked, ” Patrice how are you going to do all this and homeschool the kids?” I really had no clue how, but I knew in my heart that God did not bring me all the way to Egbe to be a worn out, exhausted, frustrated mother, wife, friend and Missionary. I knew he has a plan and I told everyone that day that God was going to bring a teacher to Egbe.

After our family meeting training began for my new roles. There were many times school was neglected or not done up to my standards. I could sense myself starting to get overwhelmed and frustration coming on. I had emails of people that were interested in coming to teach my kids for 3 months or 6 months. I opened those doors but just never felt God leading me to walk through them. He used people on the ground to help me stay focused on Gods will and not my own, even when it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. I remained faithful and knew in my heart he had a plan.

To say 30 days later I was swept away by God answering my prayer for a teacher, would be an understatement. I received an email of a couple that wanted to make Egbe their home. It just so happened that one of them was a teacher. Wow! I love it when God shows off!

I am so happy to introduce you to the Riddles. They visited Egbe last year and their hearts were swept away. Ever since they returned to the US they knew God was calling them to something bigger. Read there story at http://riddlessweptaway.com/about/ Katie will come to Egbe to teach MK’s. Nick will be serving and helping the people of Egbe at the hospital through construction, EMT experience and more.

We are praying for them to arrive in June but this depends on support. So many of you already support our mission in Egbe financially and or through prayer and we cannot Thank you enough. If you feel led to support the Riddles please click https://web.simusa.org/Give/missionaries.php. Their Missionary ID is 042310.

They also need a lot of prayer as they just recently told their current bosses, family members and friends about their departure. What they will go through spiritually, emotionally and physically over the next few months will be exhausting. Pray for them to continue to be swept away daily by God while he opens doors and shows them something so much bigger than they ever could have imagined.

Taye, Baby Living at the Nurses Station

Posted: February 1, 2014 by Patrice Miles in Uncategorized

This beautiful baby girls name is Taye. Taye means, the first to taste the world. Taye is a twin and she lives in the ECWA Egbe Hospital nurses station in Ward A. She was born there over 8 months ago along with her brother Kehinde.

I remember when I arrived in Egbe almost 6 months ago and met Taye and her brother Kehinde. I noticed every time I visited that Kehinde was getting fatter but Taye seemed so small. I later discovered that the mother had disowned Taye and was no longer feeding her. The nurses in the ward immediately stepped in and cared for Taye. Together they put in their own resources to make sure she had food, clothes and love.

Now over 8 months later I love to make regular visits to play with Taye. I throw her on my hip and make rounds to visit women in the ward. They all know Taye and scream her name when we come. They grab her and know exactly how to make her smile and laugh. They give her biscuits and smile. She is a joy to them all and her smile brightens everyones day. As you travel around this 33 acre compound you will see Taye in the arms of a nurse heading to church or heading to the hostel. They all cart her around everywhere they go making sure she is never left alone. It is a beautiful site to see this African community taking care of one of its own. We are currently looking for someone to adopt the mother and the two twins. The mother needs guidance on how to care for these two babies and we pray eventually she will be able to live on her own with both of them.

Miles In Missions

SIM Missionairies

Egbe Moments

Follow Blog via Email

Facebook Page

Authors

Recent Posts

Blog Stats

Blogs We Follow